Juno Temple's Ted Lasso Casting Changed The Way Keeley Was Written

This post contains spoilers for season 3 of "Ted Lasso."

One of the most beloved characters on "Ted Lasso" is Keeley (Juno Temple), the ambitious, bubbly woman who, in season 3, is at the head of her own PR film and finds herself inexplicably (and frustratingly, for many a viewer) broken up with Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein).

It's hard to imagine Keeley played by anyone else besides Temple, and it turns out that there's a reason for that: the writers changed how they wrote Keeley once Temple was brought on board.

In a March 2023 interview with Collider, Goldstein — who is also a writer on the show — shared that he has nothing but praise for his co-star and that he was even a little bit intimidated by her at first. "I was scared of working with Juno Temple because she's such a great actor," he confessed. The two soon found their rhythm, however, and the show has become better for it.

Brett Goldstein also shared in his interview with Collider how Juno Temple made the role of Keeley her own:

"Juno is just incredible. Of all the actors, she's the one that, from the early days, we changed the way we wrote Keeley, so it was more like Juno. She's so naturally funny in the way that she's funny, and how she is. [...] I knew her from dramas, so I thought maybe she was gonna be difficult, but she was so wonderful. When we first met, she was like, 'If we trust each other, we can make something really special here.' It was really magical, building this relationship. It was a very special thing, but so much of that is because she's amazing. Acting with her, she just gives you light and you just have to reflect it back to her. She's amazing."

Yes, Temple is amazing. And so is Keeley! So why the heck did Goldstein's character break up with her? When faced with that question, Goldstein said that their break up is something that show co-creator Jason Sudeikis had in mind from the beginning. "Some things grew and changed," Goldstein said about the series over the course of its three seasons, "but there are certain touch points that stayed fixed, and this is that."

While Keeley started dating Jack (Jodi Balfour) in season 3, that relationship appears to be on the rocks after the latest episode. Here's to hoping that Roy and Keeley find their way back to each other, assuming Roy doesn't muck it up.

New episodes of "Ted Lasso" premiere on Wednesdays on Apple TV+.